Best startup companies in Boston

Tech companies and venture capital firms are always trying to find new and unique (AND cheap) ways to get their name out there and woo employees, customers, and potential partners.

The most ubiquitous pieces of the swag tend to be stickers and t-shirts. With the arrival of the “Great Hooded One, ” Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg in the 2000s, hooded sweatshirts have also come into vogue as well.

The creative forces and personalities of companies often shine through in some of the clever t-shirt designs and slogans that appear on the gear that companies hand out as part of their marketing plans.

You’ll see signs of what I’m talking about all over Boston: Hubspot’s sprocket logo popping up on eye-piercing-orange t-shirts, teams of runners in RunKeeper gear running on the Charles, possibly some sightings of a Clypd or StarStreet shirts in Davis Square, KarmaLoop stickers everywhere.

In addition to getting a company logo out in the public eye, there is also a little bit of peacocking going on with some of the swag that is being flashed around Boston these days. There are some pieces of gear that actually denote higher status (believe it or not), whether that be affiliation with a certain VC firm or being part of a special team at a company.

Here is a breakdown (and a hierarchy) of the tech swag hierarchy in Boston.

Google Ventures

The dual-coast (and maybe soon European) venture capital arm of tech giant Google has quite possibly the most “insider” swag in town.

Sported almost solely by the founders of companies that are part of Google Ventures’ portfolio, the Google Venture hoodie not only looks like the most comfortable sweatshirt ever, it denotes a level of startup cred that very few companies can claim.

Think that I am exaggerating a bit?

Earlier this year, I visited a couple of Google Venture back companies back-to-back. At Objective Logistics, Phil Beauregard was sporting the Google Ventures hoodie; across town, a few hours later, both Mike Saguero and Seth Rosen where wearing the same exact sweatshirt.

Here’s Beauregard and Saguero in their GV hoodies: